Have your say on Council's Draft Digital Strategy

News item release date: Monday, 14 May 2018

Council has released its draft Digital Strategy for public exhibition and the community is invited to provide feedback until 14 June 2018.

Mayor of Hobsons Bay and Co-Chair of Council’s new Smart Cities Portfolio Advisory Committee Councillor Angela Altair said the Council is keen to deliver on its pledges in the Hobsons Bay 2030 Community Vision and to better deliver services in the new digital age.

“These days, people demand greater choices and expect their Council to be available 24/7; the days of only being able to transact with government and businesses at the customer service counter during business hours are not enough when most of us use laptops and smart phones,” said Cr Altair.

“We need to offer our citizens more efficient ways of transacting with Council that are more convenient and accessible.”

The Draft Digital Strategy articulates Hobsons Bay’s Digital Vision: “To continually provide for the evolving needs and expectations of the Hobsons Bay community through embracing digital opportunities and cultivating a mindset of innovation.”

Cr Altair said before drafting the new Strategy Council asked people for their views on Council’s digital services.

“They told us clearly they wanted the Council to use digital technology to provide more information and services online that are simple, easy to use, fast and automatic,” said Cr Altair.

“They also want their interactions with Council to be convenience with higher levels of self-service.”

Co-Chair for Council’s Smart Cities Portfolio Advisory Committee Councillor Peter Hemphill said the Draft Enterprise Digital Strategy will drive a range of actions that are aligned with better service provision.

“Some examples of this could include smarter ways of collecting data and improving Council processes in the areas of parking, buildings, lights, bins and pathway navigation for people of all abilities,” said Cr Hemphill.

“This is about getting the best out of our technology to improve the access, efficiency and delivery of our services to our community.”

Cr Hemphill said the Draft Enterprise Digital Strategy provides a set of five core principles that will guide Hobsons Bay’s transformation towards our digital vision.

These principles include:

1. Customer centric (instead of process-centric)

2. Socially pioneering (using digital technology in new ways for community benefit)

5. Mobile first (ensuring solutions perform to a standard of excellence on mobile platforms).

Cr Hemphill said the Draft Enterprise Digital Strategy was developed using an evidence-based approach.

“Council officers undertook extensive internal and external consultation in a range of ways that really helped shape the direction of the Strategy – and we are looking forward to enacting what we have heard and making our digital aspirations a reality in the near future,” said Cr Hemphill.

“We are keen to hear feedback from our community in the coming weeks to ensure the Draft Digital Strategy correctly addresses the future of Council’s digital services.”